Traffic Fatality Spurs Safety Review

After the recent death of a middle school teacher in a traffic accident at a busy downtown intersection, the City Council has asked its Parking, Traffic and Circulation Committee to review the area for additional safety measures.

Claudia Flint, a home-economics teacher at Thurston Middle School, died March 7, a day after being hit by a car when she was crossing Glenneyre Street at Forest Avenue. The driver, Allan Knoess, 38, of Laguna Beach, has not been charged.

Since 1989, 14 traffic accidents have occurred at the intersection, which has a two-way stop sign but allows motorists turning left onto Glenneyre to drive uninterrupted. Of those accidents, only one other involved a pedestrian, who suffered minor injuries, Police Chief James Spreine said.